RE: Lundin and HBMWAIT before you sell any Hudbay!!!!Here's why.I've been waiting alooong time for this.
Lundin CEO steps down as miner eyes deal
ANDY HOFFMAN
00:00 EST Friday, January 26, 2007
Lundin Mining Corp.'s Colin Benner is stepping aside as chief executive officer less than three months after taking over the top job as the zinc producer readies plans for a major acquisition worth up to $3-billion.
Mr. Benner was previously CEO of EuroZinc Mining Corp., whose shareholders agreed to a $1.8-billion takeover offer from Lundin last October.
He plans to remain with the company in Vancouver as vice-chairman and a director, assisting chairman Lukas Lundin in corporate development plans including merger and acquisition activities.
Lundin operates mines in Ireland, Portugal and Sweden, and Mr. Benner resigned so it could consolidate its top executives in Stockholm.
"All our operations are in Europe, so it's better to centralize everything in one place and not have offices all over. It can be very confusing for a company, you can't have two heads," said Mr. Lundin in a phone interview from Moscow.
Karl-Axel Waplan will take over CEO duties from Mr. Benner, a position he held before the EuroZinc merger.
In an interview, Mr. Benner said the changes will allow Lundin to focus on acquisitions. He said the company is hoping to buy or merge with another base metal producer of "equal size or greater" than Lundin, which has a market value of $3.9-billion.
"Stay tuned. We're going to continue to grow," Mr. Benner said.
Mining industry sources said Lundin is eyeing a possible deal with HudBay Minerals Inc., a zinc and copper producer based in Winnipeg, with a market capitalization of $2.8-billion.
Mr. Lundin wouldn't comment on a potential deal with HudBay, nor would that company's CEO Peter Jones. However, Mr. Lundin indicated he may not be keen to buy smelting and refining assets. HudBay owns a zinc plant in Flin Flon, Man., and recently bought a refinery in Michigan.
"I'm not that interested in smelting and refining, I think that's a very tough business," Mr. Lundin said.
By stepping aside, Mr. Benner will be eligible to receive a severance package worth roughly $2.2-million. Under an employment agreement, he is entitled to a payout equal to three years' salary and bonus payments if he resigns for "good cause" within 12 months following the change of control at EuroZinc. As part of the merger arrangement, Mr. Benner's employment contract was amended so that "good cause" would include "any reason which Mr. Benner, in his sole discretion, shall determine is good cause."